2024-03-31
Matteus 28:15 NLV
Hier is nog twee bewyse van Christus se opstanding: 1) Niemand is gewillig om vir dit wat hulle weet ‘n leuen is, hul lewe prys te gee nie. Mense lê hul lewens neer vir dit waaraan hulle opreg glo. Die skrywer Paul E. Little het gesê: ‘Mense sal sterf vir dit wat hulle glo waar is, alhoewel dit eintlik vals mag wees. Hulle sterf egter nie vir wat hulle weet ‘n leuen is nie.’ Die feit dat daardie vroeë dissipels gewillig was om soveel lyding te verduur en hulle lewens prys te gee om die evangelie te verkondig, bewys dat hulle in Christus se opstanding geglo het. Dit maak die fondasies van die Christendom onwrikbaar. 2) Christus se vyande het ongelooflik baie moeite gedoen om die opstanding te weerlê. ‘Hulle [die leierpriesters] het toe saam met die familiehoofde beraadslaag. Hulle het vir die soldate ‘n groot som geld aangebied en vir hulle gesê: ‘Julle moet vir die mense vertel: ‘Sy dissipels het mooi in die nag gekom terwyl ons aan die slaap was, en sy liggaam gesteel.’ As die goewerneur hiervan hoor, sal ons hom gerusstel. Ons sal sorg dat julle julle nie hoef te kwel nie.’ Die wagte het toe die geld gevat en gedoen soos aan hulle voorgesê is…’ (verse 12-15 NLV). Die Joodse leiers het alles in hul vermoë gedoen om die waarheid van die opstanding te verdoesel, om sodoende te keer dat nog meer mense hulle tot Hom bekeer. Hulle sou dit egter nie gedoen het indien die opstanding nie werklik plaasgevind het nie. Hulle plan het egter misluk en dit misluk steeds, omdat Jesus lewe!
Sielskos: 1 Kor 15; Matt 28:1-8; Luk 24:1-12
Matthew 28:15 NIV
Here are two more evidences of Christ’s resurrection: (1) You would be hard-pressed to find a time in recorded history where someone willingly gave up their life for what they knew to be a lie. Author Paul E. Little said, “Men will die for what they believe to be true, though it may actually be false. They do not, however, die for what they know is a lie.” The fact that those early disciples were willing to endure such suffering makes the foundations of Christianity unshakable.
(2) Christ’s enemies went to incredible lengths to disprove the resurrection. “When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.” If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy [bribe] him and keep you out of trouble.’ So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed” (vv. 12-15 NIV).
Think: There has never been a witness in history allowed to testify to what transpired while he or she was asleep. And for a Roman soldier to fall asleep on duty meant a certain death penalty. Indeed, if Jesus had still been in the tomb, or if they had taken his body and placed it somewhere else, why did the Jewish leaders not say so? No, they were paralyzed and powerless to do anything about it. Their only option – the one they took – was to initiate great persecution against all Christians. But it failed then, and it fails now because Jesus is alive!
Soul food: 1 Cor 15; Matt 28:1-8; Luke 24:1-12
2024-03-30
1 Corinthians 15:12 NIV
Here are three more evidences that will convince any open-minded seeker of the truth of Christ’s physical resurrection from the dead:
(1) The Christian sacraments. The Christian sacraments point to the death and suffering of Christ and also to His resurrection and power. These can be traced back in uninterrupted sequence to the exact time of the death of Jesus Christ.
(2) Christian art. In the catacombs of Rome, from the period of the persecutions, we discover etched into the walls, depictions of the resurrection of Christ as an element of the earliest Christian beliefs.
(3) The Christian church. Consider the undeniable fact of the Christian church. Numerous people do not realize the link between the church and the resurrection, but scholars do. The Christian church is the biggest institution that exists or has ever existed in the world’s history. It is five times larger than the Roman Empire at its greatest scope. In fact, more than two billion people today acknowledge their worship of Jesus Christ as the alive and risen Son of God.
How did such an institution come into and stay in existence? Someone quipped, “The Grand Canyon wasn’t formed by an Indian dragging a stick.” Neither was an institution the magnitude of the Christian church created by the fancies of idle dreamers in days past. Historians recognize that the Christian church can be tracked all the way back to the city of Jerusalem in AD 30, the time of the death and resurrection of Christ. So in truth we can say, “Christ is risen indeed!”
Soul food: Exo 12:1-14; Matt 27:57-66; Ps 49:1-15; Deut 21:22-23
1 Korintiërs 15:12 NLV
Hier is nog drie bewyse wat enige oopkop soeker na die waarheid in verband met Christus se fisiese opstanding uit die dood, sal oortuig:
1) Die Christelike sakramente. Die Christelike sakramente, die doop en die nagmaal, is tekens wat God se beloftes van goedheid en genade teenoor ons in Christus beseël. Dit dui op die dood en lyding van Christus asook op sy opstanding en krag.
2) Christelike kuns. Daar is eeue oue geëtste tekeninge van die opstanding van Christus op die mure van die katakombes in Rome ontdek, wat die oortuigings van die vroegste Christene weerspieël.
3) Die Christelike kerk. Oorweeg die onmiskenbare feit van die Christelike kerk. Die Christelike kerk is die grootste instelling wat nog ooit in die wêreld se geskiedenis bestaan het. Dis vyf keer groter as die Romeinse Ryk toe dit op sy grootste was. Meer as twee biljoen mense erken vandag Jesus Christus as die lewende en opgestane Seun van God. Hoe het so ‘n instelling tot stand gekom en staande gebly? ‘n Instelling die grootte van die Christelike kerk sou nie as gevolg van ‘n gebeurtenis wat nie waar was nie, ontstaan het nie. Geskiedkundiges bevestig dat die Christelike kerk al die pad na Jerusalem in die tyd van die dood en opstanding van Christus, teruggespoor kan word. Ons kan dus in waarheid sê: ‘Christus het waarlik opgestaan!’
Sielskos: Eks 12:1-14; Matt 27:57-66; Ps 49:1-15; Deut 21:22-23
2024-03-29
1 Corinthians 15:4 NIV
Trust the fact that Jesus rose from the dead! Here are two evidences of it: (1) The Lord’s Day. For thousands of years, the Hebrew people had maintained their Sabbath doctrine. Then later, a group of early Christians who were Jews changed the day of worship from the seventh day to the first day! What could account for their deserting a tradition to which they had held so steadfastly? The resurrection of Christ, which happened on the first day of the week, His appearance to the disciples on the first day of the week, and the outpouring of His Spirit on the church on the first day of the week. So on the first day of the week, the disciples met to worship Him (See 1 Corinthians 16:2).
(2) The celebration of Easter. This took the place of the Jewish festival of the Passover. So why did the Jews, who regarded the Passover to be the most important event in the history of their nation, forsake it in favour of the celebration of Easter, which was the most important festival among Christians? The salutation was, “Christ is risen!” The reply was, “Christ is risen indeed!” What fact, other than that of the resurrection, can explain the reality of the Easter celebration, which we can trace all the way back to the era of the early church?
Paul writes: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day… After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 6 NIV).
Soul food: Gen 22:1-18; Matt 27:32-56; Ps 22; Isa 53
